Martoons

Cast of characters

Fred

Donna

Cleaning Lady

*

Donna finally answered the phone out of breath.

“Sorry,” she gasped, “I was outside. Just had the fuel truck fill my heating oil tank.”

She chuckled. “Get this…” and collected herself while catching her breath.

“The fuel guy hailed me down to watch the meter while he hauled the hose up the stairs to my tank. Then he ran down to the truck and switched on the pump.

“The price counter began rolling and when it got to the amount, I signaled him to stop, paid cash and asked for a receipt. He was completely bewildered.

“‘Babo!’ he muttered and told me to just look at the meter!”

Fred chuckled. “I like that about Korea. No paper trail!”

Donna’s tone became businesslike. “Anyway, about time you called me back. Must have paged you four or five times this morning.”

“Actually I turned my pager off this morning…”

Donna cut in. “Miss No called me at Riverside in a panic; said you didn’t show for a meeting with her and now she’s worried.”

Fred suddenly felt under fire. “Oh yeah, something else came up…” His reply sounded lame and tailed off.

He was already on the defensive but luckily Donna didn’t dig any deeper.

* Will she later? *

“She also wanted me to let you know about tomorrow night. We’re all going to the beach. It’s New Year’s Eve, Korean style.”

Beach? “Sure, sounds great but…” The urge to tell Donna – someone – anyone – he was leaving Korea was nagging him relentlessly yet he could feel the natural momentum of the phone call ending.

* Will Fred tell her? *

He tried buying a few seconds’ time. “Won’t it be … cold out on that beach?”

Donna laughed. “And you’re from Edmonton? I was just talking to my mom; says it’s twenty-something below right now with a wind chill making in forty-something.”

Donna had struck a nerve and Fred faced a bald truth: Going back to Edmonton would be like entering a black hole. He started shivering just thinking about it.

“Hello? Hello! Fred, you still there?”

Donna was actually helping him get his bearings. He saw that over his short stay in Korea, even though the place had been frigidly alienating at times, he’d actually felt like he’d had a life here.

In a strange, twisted way, it was starting to feel like home.  

* And yet he’s going to leave it? *

Donna quipped, “I love my parents and all that but I don’t miss Edmonton one bit. Anyway, see you at the beach tomorrow night?”

Fred’s phone card was almost at zero. “Okay, the beach it is. I better get going. Got a lunch date with Cleaning Lady and she’s due any minute.”

* Will Fred actually join them at the beach the next night? *

*

In her 60s, Cleaning Lady was an amazing person.

Always attending to cooking, cleaning and other chores without interruption, Fred imagined she was completely typical of her generation.

She was a master of keeping busy and rarely sat down to take a break.

“How is your daughter?” Fred asked as Cleaning Lady continued multi-tasking around him.

“She is very thin these days. She is working very hard down at the VIP lounge. I don’t think she is eating properly. I told her the best way to gain weight is to have a baby.”

She chuckled. “I really want her to get married. She will be 30 soon! I don’t want her to be like me. I didn’t get married until I was almost 35.

“My parents thought there was no hope for me. They thought I was strange and had problems.”

* Does Cleaning Lady think the same of her daughter? *

Cleaning Lady kept talking while wiping down the table. “I tried to get married several times when I was younger.

You know, I never had any trouble meeting men. I met them at church.

“For various reasons, though, my parents never approved of the men I wanted to marry. Finally, they introduced me to a man when I was 35

. I gave-in and married him but he turned out to be an alcoholic.

“I don’t know if he was a boozer before he met me, or if I drove him to it!” She let out a raucous laugh but when it had run its course, she became somber and serious.

“I always worked hard but after getting married to him I became a workaholic so I wouldn’t have to deal with him. Thank God he died early, and I know that’s a terrible thing to say.

“But at least I was blessed with a son and a daughter from him so he served his purpose! As you know my son is in the army and has one year left.”

“And my daughter, well … you know her. Oh!”

She rifled through her purse and pulled a wad of cash out. “Thank you for your Christmas gift but ayeesh! You don’t have to give her your money!”

She neatly placed it on the table in front of him. It was the money from Fred’s truncated visit to the lady motel, courtesy of Max.

*

Tomorrow: Fred says he’s finished… but is he really?